What is the Brown Bullhead Diet?

The brown bullhead--scientific name, Ameiurus nebulosus--is a type of catfish that can be identified by its flat, brown head and eight dark barbels protruding from its chin and sides of its mouth. It is perhaps best known for its seemingly limitless diet.

  1. General Diet

    • Brown bullheads generally eat a mixture of plant, animal and detrital food sources. Examples of living things that brown bullheads eat include mollusks, leeches, bugs, algae, mayflies and frogs. Detrital is the adjective for detritus, a term used for rock particles produced via erosion and weathering.

    Adaptation

    • Manner of habitat greatly impacts the diet of brown bullheads, as they eat anything they can stuff into their mouths. For instance, brown bullheads living next to sewage outfalls are likely to consume large amounts of sewage.

    Manner of Feeding

    • Brown bullheads are bottom feeders, which means that they feed on or near the bottom of bodies of water. They usually eat at night--traveling in groups, sometimes employing a size-based hierarchy; and using their barbels equipped with taste buds to search for food.

    Diet by Age

    • Younger brown bullheads tend to be more discretionary eaters, tending to feed on larvae--basically, animals or insects that are yet into adult form--and small crustaceans.

    Heavy Eaters

    • According to a report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, brown bullheads eat about 13 times their body weight per year.